reuters.com - by Megan Rowling - November 29, 2015

Hundreds of thousands of people from Australia to Paraguay joined the biggest day of climate change activism in history on Sunday, telling world leaders gathering for a summit in Paris there is "No Planet B" in the fight against global warming.

In the French capital, where demonstrations were banned by the authorities after attacks by Islamic State militants killed 130 people on Nov. 13, activists laid out more than 20,000 shoes in the Place de la Republique to symbolize absent marchers on the eve of the summit.

Among the high heels and sandals were a pair of plain black shoes sent by Pope Francis, who has been a vocal advocate for action to prevent dangerous climate change, and jogging shoes from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

allafrica.com - November 27, 2015

Investigation conducted by this paper has established that unsafe blood transfusion is probably responsible for the new Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

A 15-year-old-boy was last weekend tested positive for Ebola and later pronounced dead on Tuesday. Dr. Francis Kateh, Chief Medical Officer of Liberia, said the boy's parents have also been tested positive for the virus and were undergoing observation.

The Ministry of Health and its partners are yet to disclose the source of the new outbreak, but a weeklong investigation conducted by this paper has established that blood recently transfused into the boy's mother at the Benson Hospital in Paynesville is the probable cause of the new Ebola infection.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by George Hurlburt

scicasts.com - November 2, 2015

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Calcium Regulation of Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Budding: Mechanistic Implications for Host-Oriented Therapeutic Intervention - Ziying Han, Jonathan J. Madara et al. PLOS Pathogens (2015)

Philadelphia, PA (Scicasts) — The Ebola virus acts fast. The course of infection, from exposure to recovery, or death, can take as little as two weeks. That may not leave enough time for the immune system to mount an effective response.

The goal of some anti-viral therapies, therefore, is to buy more and give the immune system a leg up on the virus. A new study led by Bruce Freedman and Ronald Harty in the Department of Pathobiology of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine demonstrates a way to do that, by reducing the ability of the virus to exit a host cell and spread. Their work showed that blocking a calcium-signalling pathway could inhibit not only the Ebola virus, but also Marburg, Lassa and Junin viruses, all sources of deadly infections.

submitted by George Hurlburt

A young girl wades into water where the family kitchen once stood in Diamniadio Island, Saloum Delta in Senegal.
Photograph: Jane Hahn/AP

CLICK HERE - World Bank - Accelerating climate-resilient and low-carbon development : the Africa climate business plan

Africa climate business plan, emphasising clean energy, efficient farming and urban protection, will be launched by World Bank chief at Paris climate talks

theguardian.com - by John Vidal - November 25, 2015

The World Bank has devised a $16bn (£10.6bn) strategy designed to help Africa adapt to climate change and prevent millions of people from sliding into poverty.

By fast-tracking clean energy, efficient farming and urban protection, the measures promise to greatly increase renewable energy across the continent, bolster food production and lead to the planting of billions of trees. It is also hoped that the scheme will improve life in cities and reduce poverty, migration and conflict.

CLICK HERE - STUDY - The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters

Extreme weather caused nearly $2 trillion in economic losses

time.com - by Melissa Chan - November 23, 2015

Natural disasters have killed more than 600,000 people and left behind trillions of dollars in damages in the last two decades, the United Nations said Monday.

Hundreds of floods, storms, heat waves and droughts have left about 606,000 people dead and 4.1 billion injured or homeless around the world since 1995, according to a U.N. report.

The extreme weather-related calamities also caused nearly $2 trillion in economic losses.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Ebola survivor Dr. Richard Sacra experienced eye problems, including vision loss, pain and redness, shortly after he recovered from the disease.

Credit: Chancellor JR, Padmanabhan SP, Greenough TC, Sacra R, Ellison RT III, Madoff LC, et al. Uveitis and systemic inflammatory markers in convalescent phase of Ebola virusdisease. Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Feb

CLICK HERE - STUDY - CDC - Uveitis and Systemic Inflammatory Markers in Convalescent Phase of Ebola Virus Disease

livescience.com - by Rachael Rettner - November 25, 2015

Ebola survivor Dr. Ian Crozier wasn't the only American to experience eye problems following the disease — a new report describes eye problems in another American doctor who lived through the disease.

Dr. Richard Sacra, who works for the Christian mission organization SIM USA, contracted Ebola last year while caring for pregnant women in Liberia during the rise of the Ebola outbreak there. He was evacuated to the United States for treatment in early September 2014, and was declared Ebola-free after spending about a month in the hospital.

nytimes.com - by Sheri Fink - November 22, 2015

In recent months, numerous groups of health experts have gathered to debate how to prevent another crisis like the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which jumped borders, spread fear across the globe, and directly killed more than 11,000 people. Many more died as hospitals and clinics closed for months.

Now two of those groups — one independent and the other convened by the World Health Organization — have released specific recommendations and called for urgent action. Both concluded that the W.H.O.’s outbreak and emergency response capacities should be strengthened and consolidated, protected from political meddling and independently overseen. The health organization is a United Nations agency.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - WHO - Advisory Group on Reform of WHO’s Work in Outbreaks and Emergencies with Health and Humanitarian Consequences

CLICK HERE - WHO - First report of the Advisory Group on Reform of WHO’s work in outbreaks and emergencies (20 page .PDF report)

The State Department alerts U.S. citizens to possible risks of travel due to increased terrorist threats.

travel.state.gov - November 23, 2015

Current information suggests that ISIL (aka Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions.  These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics, using conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests.  This Travel Alert expires on February 24, 2016.

Authorities believe the likelihood of terror attacks will continue as members of ISIL/Da’esh return from Syria and Iraq.  Additionally, there is a continuing threat from unaffiliated persons planning attacks inspired by major terrorist organizations but conducted on an individual basis.  Extremists have targeted large sporting events, theatres, open markets, and aviation services.  In the past year, there have been multiple attacks in France, Nigeria, Denmark, Turkey, and Mali.  ISIL/Da’esh has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt. 

The Eiffel Tower is seen at sunset in Paris, France, November 22, 2015. The capital will host the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) from November 30 to December 11.  REUTERS/CHARLES PLATIAU

CLICK HERE - Paris 2015 - COP21/CMP11 - UN Climate Change Conference - INDCs

reuters.com - by Alister Doyle - November 23, 2015

Next week, in the waning days of what is set to be the hottest year on record, world leaders meet on the outskirts of Paris for a summit that seeks nothing less than to steer the global economy away from its ever-growing reliance on fossil fuels.

The challenge is enormous and has proven elusive in the past. The U.N.-sponsored talks are aimed at getting 195 countries to agree on a path for cutting the greenhouse gas emissions which scientists say have raised global temperatures and begun upending the earth's climate.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

If rich countries don’t agree to help poorer ones recover after storms amplified by global warming tear villages apart, or help communities prosper even as their homes sink into rising seas, climate negotiations in Paris risk being scuttled.

climatecentral.org - by John Upton - November 11, 2015

A long list of disagreements is bedeviling diplomats as they prepare for a historic two-week session of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, beginning Nov. 30. A hoped-for Paris agreement could be history’s most far-reaching climate pact, with nations pledging to take a variety of steps under it to slow and adapt to climate change.

Of those disagreements, experts say the two that have the greatest potential to derail negotiations relate to money.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - ADDITIONAL IMAGE SLIDERS - Global Icons at Risk from Sea Level Rise: Pictures

Image: The resistance was discovered in pigs, which are routinely given the drugs in China. Getty Images.

bbc.com - November 19th, 2015 - James Gallagher

The world is on the cusp of a "post-antibiotic era", scientists have warned after finding bacteria resistant to drugs used when all other treatments have failed.

They identified bacteria able to shrug off the drug of last resort - colistin - in patients and livestock in China.

They said that resistance would spread around the world and raised the spectre of untreatable infections.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

submitted by George Hurlburt

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Interferon-γ Inhibits Ebola Virus Infection

scicasts.com - November 19, 2015

The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa has claimed more than 11,300 lives and starkly revealed the lack of effective options for treating or preventing the disease. Progress has been made on developing vaccines, but there is still a need for antiviral therapies to protect health care workers and local populations in the event of future outbreaks.

A new study led by University of Iowa virologist Dr. Wendy Maury, suggests that gamma interferon, which is an FDA-approved drug, may have potential as an antiviral therapy to prevent Ebola infection when given either before or after exposure to the virus.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, found that gamma interferon, given up to 24 hours after exposure, can inhibit Ebola infection in mice and completely protect the animals from death.

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Global non-linear effect of temperature on economic production

reuters.com - by Ben Gruber - November 16, 2015

Berkeley, California (Reuters) When the world heats up, economies around the globe will cool down. That's according to a new study which predicts that rising temperatures due to climate change will wreak havoc on economic output.  

"Our best estimate is that the global economy as a whole will be 23 percent smaller in 2100 than if we would avoid climate change entirely," said co-author of the study Solomon Hsiang, an associate professor of public policy at the University of California Berkeley. 

The study looked at the relationship between temperature and economic activity in 166 countries over a 50 year period.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

CLICK HERE - Berkeley News - Study finds climate change will reshape global economy

French President Francois Hollande said at least 127 were killed on Friday in a series of six coordinated attacks in Paris that he described as an "act of war" -- blaming ISIS for the violence that included shootings, explosions and a hostage situation at a concert hall.

CLICK HERE - The Guardian - Paris Attacks

CLICK HERE - Reuters - Paris Attacks: Live Updates

CLICK HERE - The Guardian - (7) - Paris Attacks: As It Happened

CLICK HERE - The Guardian - (6) - Paris Attacks: As It Happened

CLICK HERE - The Guardian - (5) - Paris Attacks: As It Happened

cdc.gov

Janvier F, Delaune D, Poyot T, Valade E, Mérens A, Rollin PE, et al.

CLICK HERE - Ebola virus RNA stability in human blood and urine in West Africa’s environmental conditions
Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Feb. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2202.151395

DOI: 10.3201/eid2202.151395

Abstract

We evaluated RNA stability of Ebola virus in EDTA blood and urine samples collected from infected patients and stored in West Africa’s environmental conditions. In blood, RNA was stable for at least 18 days when initial cycle threshold values were <30, but in urine, RNA degradation occurred more quickly.